Water ski



1, 1966 J. T. CLIFTON 3,231,911

WATER SKI Filed Feb. 1'7, 1964 INVENTOR. JOHN TE RRENCE CLIFTON ATTO RNEYS United States Patent 3,231,911 WATER SKI John T. Clifton, Agincourt,Ontario, Canada, assignor to Douglas G. Goldie & Associates Limited, DonMills, Ontario, Canada, a company of Ontario Filed Feb. 17, 1964, Ser.No. 345,143 6 Claims. (Cl. 9-310) This invention relates to themanufacture of water skis, alriiid is particularly concerned with ahollow plastic water s The majority of water skis now available are madeof wood, and are very often of laminated construction for greaterstrength. Due to their wooden construction, the known skis must be madequite long as to be sufficiently buoyant to support the weight of theuser, particularly at slow speeds. The long length of the known skisincreases their cost, as does the considerable hand labor required intheir manufacture.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a water skiwhich can be manufactured at considerably less cost than the skis knownheretofor.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a plastic water skiwhich can be manufactured by blow moulding as a hollow body havingconsiderably greater buoyancy per unit length than the known skiconstructions.

It is a further related object of the invention to provide a footharness for a water ski having an improved adjustment for accommodatingdifferent size feet.

These and other objects of the invention will be more thoroughlyunderstood from the following description of a preferred embodimentthereof as read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate this embodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a plastic water ski manufactured inaccord with the invention, and showing the improved foot harness raisedabove its operative position for better clarity.

FIGURE 2 is an end view, partly in section, of the ski showing in FIGURE1, and as taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1, and FIGURE 3 is avertical cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1, andshowing the heel cup portion of the foot harness shown in FIGURE 1 inits operative position.

Referring to FIGURE 1, 10 generally indicates the Water ski manufacturedin accord with this preferred embodiment of the invention. The ski ispreferably formed of a mouldable plastic with rigid vinyl being aparticularly good material. In accord with the invention, the ski can beblow moulded by heating a tube of plastic within an elongated blow mouldand by forcing the heated plastic outwardly against the inside walls ofthe mould in a manner which is well known to those familiar with blowmoulding practices. Following completion of the blow moulding step, thefront and rear ends of the skis can be sealed together by heat sealingor with an appropriate adhesive.

The ski essentially comprises vertically spaced top and bottom walls 12and 14 respectively. The spacing between these top and bottom wallsmeans that the ski is a hollow body thereby possessing considerablybouyancy for its size. The top wall 12 is preferably formed with aplurality of transversely extending ribs 16, while the bottom wall 14 ispreferably provided with at least one longitudinally extending rib 18,which extends inwardly of the hollow body. In the preferred andillustrated form of the invention, there are two of these longitudinallyextending ribs 18, although it will be appreciated that one of three ormore ribs could be used. The tops of these longitudinal ribs 18 arepreferably positioned 3,231,911 Patented Feb. 1, 1966 either just belowthe undersurface of top wall 12, or in actual contact therewith. Ineither case, there is cooperation between the ribs and the top wall togive the ski considerably strength. Whether or not the tops of ribs 18actually contact the undersurface of top wall 12 depends to some degreeon the type of plastic employed in the construction of the ski. In thecase of weaker materials, it may be necessary to decrease the height ofribs 18 as to avoid weakening the transverse strength of the bottom wall14 to an unacceptable degree. In this case, cooperation between the topsof ribs 18 and the underside of top wall 12 does not take place untilweight is applied to the top wall as the user stands on the ski wherebythe top wall 12 sags downwardly somewhat as to contact the tops of ribs18. In the case wherein stronger and more rigid plastics are employed,ribs 18 can be moulded of a height as to contact the undersurface ofwall 12 without weight applied to top wall 12. The walls 12 and 14 areconnected along the side edges thereof, preferably by means ofintegrally formed longitudinal ribs 21. These ribs serve the additionalfunction of providing longitudinal rigidity to the ski, as well asadditional buoyancy due to their hollow construction.

As can be seen in FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 2, a fin 22 is fixed to theundersurface of bottom wall 14 adjacent to the rear of the ski. This isa known expedient common to most water skis.

The improved foot harness in accord with this invention essentiallyconsists of a toe holder 24 and an adjustable heel holder 26. These maybe made of a number of different materials, but a preferred material issoft vinyl plastic. The toe holder 24 essentially consists of atransversely extending band which is folded back upon itself at eitherend as to provide two rod engaging loops. The heel holder essentiallyconsists of a base 28, a heel cup 30, and a pair of rod engagingelements 32. At the rear of base 28, there is provided a downwardlyprojecting dog element 33, the purpose of which is describedhereinafter.

To retain the above described toe and. heel holders on the top surfaceof the ski; there is provided a pair of longitudinally extending rods 34of steel or the like, which are attached to the ski by means ofapertured lugs 36, which are moulded integrally with the ski. The rodsare held in these lugs by appropriate nuts 38. v

Beneath the heel holder 26, the upper surface of top wall 12 is providedwith a plurality of transverse ratchet teeth 40, which are adapted toreceive the dog element 33, as can best be seen in FIGURE 3. To move theheel holder 26 longitudinally of the ski, it is only require-d that thebase plate be bent upwardly as to disengage dog element 33 from theratchet teeth. In the normal course, the dog element 33 is biaseddownwardly into engagement with the ratchet teeth, due to the stiffnessof the base plate, particularly in the region of the rod engagingelement 32. This downward bias of the dog element as combined with theweight of the user on the base plate serve to retain the dog element inengagement with the ratchet teeth, while the ski is in use.

Due to the relatively simple moulding methods employed in themanufacture of the water ski in accord with this invention, it can beproduced at considerably less cost than the water skis heretoforeavailable. Further, the water ski in accord with this invention isconsiderably lighter than the known water skis, and are much more easilyhandled and transported.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A water ski comprising an elongate hollow plastic body having aspaced apart top and bottom walls joined together at the side margins ofthe body, said top wall having a plurality of transverse reinforcingribs, said bottom Wall having at least one integral longitudinalreinforcing rib projecting inwardly of the body with the top of saidlongitudinal rib being positioned adjacent the undersurface of said topWall.

2. A water ski as claimed in claim 1, in which the top of saidlongitudinal rib is positioned in contact with the undersurface of saidtop wall.

3. A water ski as claimed in claim 1, having two substantially parallellongitudinal ribs in said bottom wall, the tops of said longitudinalribs being positioned in contact with the undersurface of said top wall.

4. A water ski as claimed in claim 1, having a hollow longitudinalreinforcing rib extending along each side margin of the body whereby toprovide additional rigidity and buoyancy to said body.

5. A water ski formed of plastic by blow moulding, said water skicomprising an elongate hollow body being upturned at its forward end andhaving vertically spaced top and bottom walls joined together at theside edges of the body by integral longitudinal extending hollowreinforcing ribs, a plurality of transversely extending reinforcing ribsformed in said top wall, and a pair of laterally spaced longitudinallyextending reinforcing ribs formed in said bottom wall, said longitudinalribs projecting upwardly of said bottom wall, with the tops of saidlongitudinal ribs resting against the undersurface of said top wallwhereby said top wall is reinforced against sagging.

6. A water ski having a foot harness comprising a pair of rod membersfixed to lugs projecting upwardly from the top surface of the ski withthe rods extending longitu-dinally of the ski adjacent the said edgesthereof, a toe holder consisting of a flexible transversely extendingband fixed at either end to said rods and shaped to receive and hold theforward portion of a foot against the top surface of the ski; a heelholder formed of stiff but resiliently flexible material and having abase, a heel cup projecting upwardly from the base and a pair of rodengaging elements fixed to the base and received on said rods forsliding movement thereon, a dog element projecting downwardly from saidbase, a plurality of ratchet teeth formed in the upper surface of saidski for receiving said dog element whereby the relative position betweensaid toe holder and said heel holder may be adjusted by moving said heelholder relative to said ski by bending upwardly said base to permitre-positioning of said dog element in said ratchet teeth.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,531,946 11/1950Parker 9--310 3,031,696 5/1962 Brabb 9310 3,103,672 9/1963 Lockwood 9310MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiner,

1. A WATER SKI COMPRISING AN ELONGATE HOLLOW PLASTIC BODY HAVING ASPACED APART TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS JOINED TOGETHER AT THE SIDE MARGINS OFTHE BODY, SAID TOP WALL HAVING A PLURALITY OF TRANSVERSE REINFORCINGRIBS, SAID BOTTOM WALL HAVING AT LEAST ONE INTEGRAL LONGITUDINALREINFORCING RIB PROJECTING INWARDLY OF THE BODY WITH THE TOP OF SAIDLONGITUDINAL RIB BEING POSITIONED ADJACENT THE UNDERSURFACE OF SAID TOPWALL.